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The power of organizing principles in UX
Every user perceives content differently, and often surprisingly so
What is an organizing principle?
An organizing principle is a unique reference point for a sum of objects which allows individual objects thereof to be arranged, valued, located, or classified based on such established reference point. (Note: ‘objects’ can mean non-physical items such as topics, ideas, events, occurrences, and a many others.)
Commonly used organizing principles include alphabetical ordering, such as a dictionary, chronological ordering, such as a timeline, or numerical ordering as a list of priorities.
Organizing principles in UX
User research reveals that every user accesses a bolus of inventory or information differently. For that, we need to understand what the users’ organizing principles reveal in the first place.
Hierarchies of product data need to be intuitive, easy to use, and accessible by any user.
Often, what seems like an obvious hierarchy system for the product design team is not what the user sees as a pertinent system for product choice or use.
